The present invention relates to the field of golf clubs, and more particularly, to the field of golf putters.
The golf club art has seen substantial creative work in mass distribution, clubhead configuration, audible and sensory feedback and the like. Much has been done in golf club design in an effort to improve the performance of the golfer or otherwise enhance the golfing experience. U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,405 to Karsten Solheim discloses a golf putter having internal weights at the heel and toe ends of the club. The end blocks are connected together by one or two thin face plates and a bar that supports a hosel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,395 to Morton Reiss discloses a golf putter having an elongate head comprising three sections. The head includes a low mass center section with a length at least 1xc2xd times the ball diameter and two, more massive, end sections. The three sections have substantially the same transverse cross section forming a single continuous blade. A major portion of the mass is in the end portions which may be connected together longitudinally through the center section by steel pins. The club shaft is secured to the head centrally.
Another approach to putter shape, size and weight distribution is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,543 to McGeeney et al. where a center section of the head is of relatively low mass density, non-metallic material. The head has higher density metallic heel and toe portions with an integrally formed high density hosel extending upwardly from the heel portion.
Numerous other golf clubs have been provided in the prior art that have been described by the designers as providing enhancements of sound, balance, or human factor considerations.
Some golf clubs known in the art are said to have an awkward xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d when striking a golf ball, believed to be in part because of the distribution of weight within the clubhead. In addition, while the prior art has provided other golf clubs that are said to have a proper feel and to be properly balanced, many of these golf clubs are unattractive and the physical appearance is distractive. Some configurations do not provide the optimum perspective to the golfer as the ball is addressed or a helpful audible or tactile response as the club strikes the ball. There thus exists an ongoing need in the art for a golf club that has an optimum balance and feel, an appearance and a sighting perspective which support concentration and audible and tactile responses that optimize the relationship between golfer and putter.
It is a general object of this invention to provide a club that optimizes the foregoing criteria.
Specifically, the general objects of the invention include the creation of a golf club, especially a putter, that provides audible and sensory feed-back to the golfer for improved performance. The golfer, golf club and golf ball are connected during the swing and at impact. Golf clubs made according to this invention provide superior sensitivity to the swing and impact, a dynamic sense of balance and an enhanced xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d which is fed back visually and by tactile sensations indicative of stroke quality. The characteristics of the clubhead are believed to be further enhanced from integration of a shaft of low mass density material and a low mass density hosel and body with a shell having a unique web extending through the body that is integrated with high mass density heel and toe polar shell portions. The performance of the unique body, hosel and shaft configuration is augmented by the other structural and functional features of the invention as described and claimed.
The present invention provides a well-balanced golf club that satisfies the foregoing general objects. The golf club of the invention includes a shaft that has a handle end and a clubhead end. Means in the nature of a hosel integrates the clubhead end of the shaft to a clubhead that comprises two basic elements. The two basic clubhead elements are (1) a body, also sometimes called an insert, of relatively lightweight material defining a striking surface, an upper aligning surface integrally related to a flat sighting surface on the hosel connecting the shaft and handle and, and (2) a shell including polar weighting comprising relatively massive distal portions, and an interconnecting medial portion comprising a web in the body and an armature connected to the web within the body and extending into the hosel. In a preferred embodiment, the low mass body is secured between the relatively high mass heel and toe portions and is configured for optimum dynamic balance, inertial stability, sensory golfer feed-back and related enhanced sighting. The body portion, shaft and hosel are preferably of low mass density materials compared to the shell to provide an optimum polar mass distribution.
The medial portion of the shell comprising a thin web in the lightweight body and a hosel armature extending therefrom integrates the total body, hosel and shaft and should provide improved performance of the putter and enhanced sensory feedback to the golfer upon striking the ball.
In one preferred embodiment the hosel, or connecting means, is strategically located on the body, close to the heel portion and of the same low density material as the body and shaft, resulting in advantages of optimum weight distribution. The body portion is visible as a flat top surface with an indicium which assists the golfer in addressing the ball and aligning the club and ball for the putt. The configuration of the connecting means or hosel includes a flat alignment surface that has a synergistic relationship to the upper sighting surface of the body and provides body/shaft interaction.
In some preferred embodiments of the invention, the clubhead body portion has a striking surface having a cylindrical or roll face configuration the longitudinal axis of which is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the clubhead. The striking surface extends between the top surface and a bottom surface that forms a portion of the sole of the club. The striking surface is preferably an arcuate segment that correlates with the sweet spot or center of gravity and the top and bottom surfaces. For the putting stance of most golfers, this surface minimizes skipping or jumping and causes the ball to hug the green. It is a portion of the striking face of the clubhead.
In a preferred embodiment, the shaft and body portion are connected through the hosel connecting means and include a reinforcing armature. The body portion is a generally rectilinear blade having an exposed striking surface, a sole surface, a sighting top surface and may include a rearward sole back shelf. The back configuration of the toe and heel portions may conform to the back of the body. In another preferred embodiment the rear of the body portion is cut-away to define a rear sole shelf to further augment the polar mass distribution while the toe and heel portions are not cut away, thus providing augmented polar distribution. However, the invention provides advantages in blade-type putters with or without a cut-away back and in mallet-type putters having various back configurations. The hosel connecting means may be straight or may include a single or double offset portion to provide an upper hosel portion aligned with the shaft axis and the front of the clubhead to align with the striking surface and to establish a shaft angle of about 72xc2x0 to the sole, called the xe2x80x9cliexe2x80x9d angle.
Other features and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention and its embodiments.